Wellesley gears up for 2 outdoor skating rinks

Wellesley town officials are hoping to erect two outdoor skating rinks this winter at Phillips Park (if you’re not familiar with it, it’s between Maugus Avenue and Seaward Road along Washington Street. and the Brook Path).

The small rink that has been set up in recent years at the Recreation Center/Warren Building outdoor basketball court (shown here) will be put in place at the Phillips Park basketball court. And a large rink will go in the field.

All this is weather permitting, of course. Last year, the town tried to set up a rink at Hunnewell Field, but the weather just never cooperated to get a rink up and going. This year, Hunnwell Field is off the table because it’s beaten up from a season of football practice.

According to Jan Kaseta, director of the Wellesley Recreation Department: “Regarding when, that really depends on the weather. We can set up the rinks anytime, but need to wait to put water in them until we are assured of multiple days of below freezing weather. However, our experience with setting up the rinks too early is that they get damaged from stuff (branches, rocks, trash) ending up in them. People walking on the liner, while the rink is empty, is also an issue, so set-up pretty much comes down to watching the weather and just being ready to do it on sort of a moment’s notice!”